


Curious Fusion

by Birdfluff



Series: Fusing Mercenaries [2]
Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Gore, M/M, and one sided scout/pauling, contains slight poly ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-07
Updated: 2015-11-07
Packaged: 2018-04-30 11:01:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5161307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Birdfluff/pseuds/Birdfluff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The aftereffects of fusion are strange. Fusion, itself, is strange and experimental. When fusing with the right partner seems to leave Scout desiring more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Curious Fusion

The smell of gasoline mixed in with garlic bread filled the man's lungs as he strolled through the unfamiliar walkways. He crossed streets and ran through traffic as if his body was on autopilot while his mind took a seat to relax. His eyes wandered around, taking in the strange sights of a busy city. He watched the people in suits and small children walk or run pass him as if he were invisible. The store's signs were unreadable and the glass showing off displays were foggy like the temperature inside the builds were the exact opposite as the outer world. It was until he finally reached his destination the autopilot ceased to function and he opened the door manually. It was an apartment building and it appeared that he lived on the first floor. Again this was not recognizable yet had a sense of comfort and warmth to it. There were two open doors leading to new rooms to explore yet he could not bring himself to move. The smell of baking bread that tickled his nose and the voice that echoed into his ears distracted him. A woman stepped into his line of sight. He could not hear exactly what she was saying, it was like her voice was muffled, but something she said must have been amusing for she pinched his cheek and ruffled his hair lovingly. Automatically his hand swiped hers away, he too must have replied but again it was garbled. It was like he was watching the scene inside the mind of this man... but underwater...?

He blinked to find himself back where he belonged... hopefully.. Sitting up and looking around the room, he immediately saw the outline of his violin and specimen jars on their proper shelves and he sighed in relief. Medic was in his own room.

What a curious dream.

Usually his typical dreams, if he had any, were blurry, fast, and splashed with vibrant colors, and the occasional birds, that leaved his body tingling. He never did dream of people or events so this was entirely different experience and possibly the only dream to leave him begging for more yet desperate to forget about.

Rolling his shoulders and neck he was ready to lay back down and sleep if not the irritating scratching of his dry throat stopped him. Slowly he shifted, plucked his spectacles from his bedside table to place on his nose and got up from his bed. He yawned as he crossed the threshold into the hallway, which seemed to be darker than his room. He felt for the wall and stayed there until his eyes fully adjusted. Although he concluded after a while that it wasn't exactly the most reliable source of vision; he would search for his flashlight but that would require traveling to his laboratory just to go to the kitchen. Knowing that his laboratory was in fact beyond that point he decided against that notion and kept his hand to the wall as he walked.

The base would be eerily quiet if not for the sounds of snoring men who occasionally broke that line. Medic would be lying if he was not relieved for some sort of background noise. He passed a few doors until he found the mess hall. Good this means the next--

“AAH!”

A scream and a metallic thud disrupted his train of thought and gave the doctor a less obnoxious shriek of his own. He turned to meet Scout at his side in his unusual Kung-Fu like pose and a lit flashlight that had been dropped.

“You scared the crap outta me, doc!” He cried out, returning his foot onto the ground. The doctor shushed him in response and the Bostonian continued in a hushed, vexed tone, “What the hell are you doin'?”

“Quenching my parched throat... und you?”

“Bath-bathroom...”

“Ah... you dropped this.” He picked up the flashlight and was about to flip the flashlight bulb to his person when by the help of the light he noticed the batter's body shaking and sweat bounding down his shirtless chest.

The German squinted, “Ist... is zhat sweat? Scout--?”

He snatched the torch from him. His body language was fidgety and excessive as usual but this was more animated while he spoke, “I'm-I'm alright, I'm fine, I just had a nightmare is all. Got them all the time.”

His piqued his interest, “Reoccurring nightmares? Scout, you cannot just brush zhat aside.”

“And why not?”

“Nightmares can effect your health, mentally and physically if not treated. How long have you had zhese dreams?”

“... Eva since I've been born I've had 'em, but again, I'm fine. I think I'm going to be ok this one ti--”

“Vhy did you never come to me?”

From the light he could read the younger man's facial expressions clearly, worry surrounded his big eyes and he was chewing on his lower lip. It took him a few long minutes to speak up, “I.. I guess I was afraid you'd, like, experiment on my brain or somethin'.”

Medic's fingers twitched while he fought the urge to grab him by the neck. He heaved a sigh, and gazed into his eyes “Scout, I am afraid to admit zhat zhat is beyond my limitations. If you vould let me help you I can prescribe medication to help alleviate those nightmares.”

“... no dissectin' me? Cause, I don't want your dumb bird my skull this time,” he glared, obviously still ill about that past event.

“Nein, you have my vord. Und his name is Archimedes and I vould appreciate if you did not call him a 'dumb bird'.”

“Yea yea sure,” Scout replied hurriedly, inching away from the other man.

“Ach, ach, Scout, you vill be accompanying me to the kitchen.”

“What? Why?”

“Hush! Zo you can explain these nightmares to me, since ve're already heir. And if you'd like I can make some tea for you.”

Grumbling, he unwillingly answered, “Fine...! Would you let me go to the bathroom now before it ends up on the floor?”

The doctor rolled his eyes, waving his hand, “Ja ja, just meet me in zhe kitchen vhen you're done.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The smell of green tea gave him comfort if not a sense of home. With a small smile on his lips he took in the scent. He had his backside pressed against the counter and shortly sipped his mug. It was not long until the smaller man joined him. Scout entered into the bright kitchen, blinking furiously to adjust.

The doctor only chuckled, briefly scanning over his scrawny youthful body before reaching back to grab a cup filled half way with green tea and towards Scout.

When he ceased his rapid blinking, he saw and took the cup, sniffed the liquid and made a disgusted face.

“Come now, I put honey and sugar in there just for you.”

“you... drink this stuff raw?”

“Yes..? Iz zhat a problem?”

“Ugh...” The Bostonian sniffed again and pressed the cup to his lips. In response to the strange taste his stomach caved in, his shoulders hunched, and his eyes had grown huge in just an instant. He held the small amount of liquid in his mouth for a few moments, deciding whether to spit it out or swallow. Eventually he swallowed the tea and poked his tongue out to express his uncertainty of the drink. Medic could not help himself and giggled at his reaction he would claim adorable.

“Sh-shut it..!” The batter croaked, sniffling from the warm fumes of his drink. He kept his arms close to his chest and drink to his face, possibly hiding his half nakedness. If this was any other situation Scout would've been more than happy to show off his 'abs' but being alone with only the doctor as his company gave him a new odd sensation of self consciousness.

“Thoughts?” The older man inquired after easing up on his laughter.

Hesitantly he took one more swig, bringing a smile to the other's lips, and smacked, “....It ain't bad...” He replied truthfully.

“Gut, I'm glad. Green tea is such a fantastic beneficial way to improve the human body.”

He only hummed in response, tapping his index finger against the side of his cup. His eyes avoided the doctor's.

Noticing his uneasiness he spoke up again, “Here. Vhy don't I tell you vhat I dreamed of, and zhen you can share me yours..”

“... Is it gonna be disgustin'?”

“No, usually my dreams are particularly disorient and confusing yet leave me immediately once I gain consciousness although my skin vould veel as if I had been pricked. Zhis one however vas vivid und comforting. I vas in a city I did not recognize, my body moving on autopilot vhile my eyes gazed at my surroundings. I saw bakeries and cars. Children vith backpacks and many business persons. Zhe autopilot halted vhen I came across an apartment complex and I opened the door to be greeted by a lady. Her voice vas muffled and I could not make out any vords. My body vas on autopilot once more vhen she touched my face und hair to swat her hand away. I can only assume she believed me to be her son coming back home. I voke up feeling...” he paused to choose his words wisely, “agitated. I did not want the dream to end nor did I want it to return.” Medic returned his eyes back over to his company who gazed back with intrigue.

“Dat... sounds a lot like my home... at least you had a nice dream.” He drank his tea before continuing, “Mine was muddy. I could hear a constant high scream ringing in my ears, or at least I think it was screamin'. I could feel something wet on my hands and legs. My inside felt they were fallin' out it and, I I could feel it all...It.. it felt horrible, like I felt like barfing when I woke up.”

“Have... have you had dreams similar to zhis?”

“Not even close. My other nightmares was me running and..I.. I just had to keep running or...” he bit his lip again, staring at the ground with shaky eyes.

This behavior was worrying Medic. He'd seen Scout frightened before for example when he opened the bread to reveal the tumors but this was on a new level of fear. “Or vat?”

“I don't know, I remember I stopped once and... I woke up, I must have been screaming while I was sleeping because my ma was there beside me. I really don't remember what it was that happened but I could feel my neck tingling afterwards... kind of like tonight's nightmare... my hands were tingling and so was my chest and stomach... like.. like... what's it called when they're prickin you with a lotta neetles to somehow relax ya?”

“Acupuncture?” The German was astounded that his teammate even knew about that. Maybe he actually does pay attention...

“Yea that, like I was being acupunctured but I could feel all of those needles and..” a shiver ran up his spine, “I.. I don't like it. I 'ate it.”

“How many hours do you think you sleep on a regular bases?”

His eyebrows knitted in thought, “... Six or seven at most?”

The German nodded solemnly. This certainly explains the energy drinks he takes on the battle field if he's not getting proper sleep and coming to breakfast late. “Scout, have you ever had any post trauma that may have resulted to these nightmares?”

“Uhh.. if I 'ave I musta blocked them out.”

The older man hummed, lost in his mind. Silence filled the lit room. Occasionally the batter shifted his weight from one foot to the other. His short attention span always forcing his eyes to look at something else or to sip on his drink. At times his gaze would fall onto the doctor, at his concentrated face, then down at his sleepwear. Modest in color and sleeve length. He was disgusted with himself to think that he actually looked cute. Jerking his head away he stared intently down at his nearly empty cup.

“Scout,” Medic finally said after a wide pause, causing the recipient to flinch, “I know you vill not enjoy this but I vill have to experiment some medication on you to see vat vorks.”

Scout exhaled a groan in exasperation and responded softly with a moue, “dammit.”

“Aber, it is your call,” He decided to give the younger man some amount of comfort. “You can let me experiment on you, or you can live your life--”

“Just do it, aight?”

Astonished he only nodded and placed his mug in the sink.

“Ey, did you put somethin' else in this? I'm gettin' tired.”

The doctor giggled, “I believe that's only your body reacting to your lack of sleep, mein freund.”

“Hm,” he huffed before yawning. He handed him his cup which the recipient took and put it on the right side of the sink. He turned back to find his teammate rubbing his sleepy eyes. The German cracked a smile and ran a hand through the batter's hair, disarranging it, before walking to the threshold, “Come now, try to get some more hours in ja?”

He half expected the Bostonian to slap his hand or even his face in reaction to having his head touched but he didn't... instead he hummed and followed him out after retrieving his flashlight, “.. my ma used to do that.”

Medic blinked.

“She'd do that wheneva I came home from practice or school and tease me about always ruining my hair,” he paused then resumed nearly slurring his words, “ey, do you remember when we all got jobs here? We shared stories of home... well most of us did I don think you or Spy said anythin', but it was nice.. I guess...”

Drowsiness must bring out a certain emotion within Scout. For a moment the doctor thought he had fallen ill from his strange talk and genuinely smiling up at him. It was something he wanted to revel in while it lasted. Medic breathed, “do you miss Boston?”

“Of course I do, man! I wish I had your dream, it sounded exactly like home, although I lived on like the fourth floor. Do you remember the woman? What she looked like?”

“Hmm, I'm sorry I cannot say I do.”

“Aw, shame.” the batter stopped walking with him and opened the door to his, or rather, Sniper's room while the other man continued on.

“Oi, ain't your room the other way?”

“Yes, but my lab is over heir.”

“Wha? You're working on it tonight?”

“I vork late on most nights; zhis von't be any different.”

He squinted through heavy eyes and then finally shrugged, “ok, doc... night.”

"Gute Nacht, Scout. Träum was schönes.”

“Uhh.. yea you too.. I think.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“How.. is it growing this fast..?” Miss Pauling stared agape that the hole in the wall somehow was now twice the size from before and increased the number of gems. Her eyes drifted down to her tools consisting of: a large bag, a shovel, and gloves, which she promptly released from her grasp and left the room. She needed more supplies than this.. and a suit.

“Fraulein Pauling!”

The woman glanced behind her to find Medic jogging to her, “Oh, hey doc... you're up early.”

He decreased his speed to walk beside her, “I've been up for the past few hours working on a new medication.”

“Oh well.. you should really get some rest though.”

“Heh, yes, says zhe one vho gets only one day off a year.”

“... You know what point taken. Did you need something?”

“Ach, ja, I have quite a bit of information you vould be interested in. It appears zhat Scout has reoccurring nightmares, but zhis is vhat strikes me strange. The nightmare he had told me last night vas, strikingly similar to how I dream.”

“... Really?”

“Yes, he's usually running in his nightmares but this time he was not running. Claiming the dream to be muddy und touch based, shaking upon waking up and feel nauseated.”

“I see...you're telling me this because you think it could be.. because of those stones?”

“Ja, although I have no idea if this is the case for Soldier and Demo.”

She nods, “I'll ask, thank you, doc. One last thing, what did you dream of last night?”

“A city.”

Ms Pauling was silent to let him finish but only met with nothing. She stopped at the front door and carefully responded, “...That's it?”

“Zhat's it.”

“Nothing else?”

“Not zhat I recall.” Medic fluently lied, “How is Scout's room coming along?”

“Ughh, Medic, it's turned into an infestation! I mean, those quartz have got to be alive, the hole is gotten big enough for me to climb through and there's countless gems now. I dug MOST of them out yesterday. It's insane,” she messaged her forehead, keeping her other hand on the handle, “so... I'm getting more supplies and hazard suit. I'm afraid that if this.. keeps going... I should've checked more thoroughly, I should've been more careful--”

“Now, now, Fraulein. Don't put zhe blame on yourself. No one knows vhen zhis infestation started. It couldn't have been your fault.”

She drew in a sharp breath, “... Y-you're right. We don't have any clues on when this started, huh? Right. Okay. Thank you..”

She gave him a weak smile, which he returned, and then stepped through the threshold, the door closing behind her.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dust fell over the base. The setting sun only shining a few more rays onto the world. It wouldn't matter much for the dark rec room where most of the mercs were in. It was movie night and it was Engie's turn.

On the television screen there was a half naked girl hiding in a locked bathroom with only a dull knife to defend herself. The door handle jiggled causing her to gasp, “I'm armed! Don't come in!”

It was a horror film.

“Oh yea, a butter knife will definitely scare 'im,” Sniper muttered with an eye roll, obviously bored with the movie. Engie, who sat on the left side of him on the sofa, chuckled a bit at his salty remark while Scout, who sat on the right, would have laughed if he wasn't already terrified out of his mind and sucking on his thumb.

An ax hatched at the door until the murderer created an opening for themselves.

“That seems like a waste in effort.” Spy responded critically, mostly to himself. His back against the metallic chair as he watched behind the couch and ignored Pyro's frantic pointing at the murderer's weapon choice, “Hacking the doorknob off would've been easier.”

“No!! NO PLEASE!!” the lady shrieked loudly before the ax was shoved through her stomach. The batter felt his own belly churn in response as organs fell out from the hole when the killer pulled his ax back out. Scout was the only one who responded correctly to the scene; he had his eyes covered and legs curled up.

“Vhat is zhat?!” Medic exclaimed in disdain, nearly coming up from his chair, “Zhat not close to being a liver! It's not even zhe correct size!”  
Half the group hushed him.

“... vell it's not,” he whispered frowning.

The murderer had left the bathroom and seemed to have abandoned the house. A group of six college students from upstairs were unaware of the screams from the bathroom and came down stairs talking to one another casually.

“I'm going to run to the bathroom, you guys get the beer ready,” one of the boys left the crowd and the camera followed him to the restroom. The body, blood, and organs weren't there anymore. The boy then closed to the door and the camera flipped back to the group.

“The fuck..? where...?” Scout murmured, uncovering his eyes completely and squinting at the screen.

“Yo the beer ain't in here!”

“What? I thought I put them in the fridge. Let me check the pantry.” The girl crossed over to the kitchen pantry and opened the door. The creepy music didn't start until the door was fully wide, revealing the killer. Even though this turn was highly expected, sadly the Bostonian had no idea and shrieked in unison with the television. His reflexes kicked in to move somewhere that was not here in a rapid succession. In the process his head collided with the Aussie sitting next to him as he was trying to leave the couch, which caused his hand to slide off the top of the couch in reaction to the abrupt pain of his skull only to fall on top of his teammate. While the rifleman tried to push him off. By this time Engie was standing up a hand reaching out towards the fallen mercs before a brilliant flash of light caught him off guard.

“Merde not again...”

“Mmmhmph!”

The new fusion's eyes opened and closed repeatedly, adjusting to the now lit up room. He breathed slowly from exhaustion. A few heads were over him he recognized Medic, Engie, and Pyro. They stared down at him in astonishment... mostly at his arms. He moved his hand to stroke his hair and bruised head the other arm attached to the pivot of his shoulder came up as well to scratch his chin.

He stopped. Slowly he gazed down at his arms... all four of them.

Everyone expected a scream, a yelp, they embraced themselves for it but instead since it was Sniper this time fused with Scout the only response from him was, “... Oh... well I guess it could've been worse.”

The fusion made a face of distaste at the sound of his mixed accented voice.

“Ya'll not panicking..?”

He shrugged, “To be honest I was expectin' this. 'Idn't expect the four arms and hands though.” He grunted as he got up onto his feet. He then noticed that his hair brushed the ceiling. He felt uncomfortably tall as he looked down at the others. Pyro circled him in a keen manner.

“Curious,” Medic cooed, studying the lower set of arms. “It is similar to Soldier's und Demo's fusion but... Mm. Und your clothes haven't changed at all. My zhis is getting interesting. Vhat a marvelous physique.”

“You would be the one to notice that huh, Doc?” The fusion replied with a lopsided smile.

This caused the doctor's grin to drop, his self assured countenance abashed by one sentence. Quickly he cleared his throat, covering up his strange lack of confidence, “I shall inform Miss Pauling.”

“I already did that, she'll be here in soon,” Spy, who was near the light switch, remarked before the doctor had a chance to leave the room.

“Oh, uh, zhank you, Herr Spy,” he replied hastily ignoring that vile smirk.

Pyro tugged on the fusion's hand, redirecting his attention. Their muffle sounded a little worried. He smiled and patted his teammate on the head, “Don't worry, mate, we'll get this settled.”

“How do ya'll feel?” He heard the Texan inquire.

The prolonged silence was a little concerning but not as worrying as his answer.

“Good,” the fused merc replied, sitting down at the couch again.

“Really now?”

“Yea... feels good.”

This didn't sit well with the rest of the mercs. Engie exchanged uneasy, nervous glances with the two mercenaries behind him.

Finally after quite some time clicking shoes could be heard coming towards the rec room. Miss Pauling emerged from the hall, “Ok, I'm here. What'-- oh.”

The appearance of the fusion seemed to tip her off a bit. She blinked, “...Uh, wow, ok, what happened here?”

Seeing that no one was taking the liberty to explain, the engineer pipped up, “Well, you see, during one of scares of our movie, the little rascal jumped up and onto Snipes, here and..”

She nodded, “.. Right. I'm.. I'm really surprised you're not reeling on the ground right now.”

He simply shrugged.

“Okay, soo,” she paused to collect her thoughts, “... I have no idea how you two could unfuse if you're so... relaxed. Medic and Scout argued to unfuse. Demo was too drunk to keep their fusion...”

She pressed her lips together, concentrated, “Can you two try to argue?”

The fusion's eyes searched around as if trying to find something to fight about and then shrugged once more.

“Hhnn... anyone?” She turned to the small group, “Any ideas?”

Medic raised his hand up.

“No, you can't dissect them.”

Pouting he lowered his hand.

“Yea, I'd appreciate it if ya didn't, doc,” the fusion shifted uncomfortably, thinking about the gore in the movie. He did not want to know what his insides looked like today.

Suddenly a voice on the speakers spoke, “Sniper. You have a personal phone call on line 3.”

“... Piss..” the Aussie's voice breathed shakily.

“W-what do we..?” The Bostonian tried to speak but the voice of the other man interrupted him, “Give me a second!”

He was avoiding thinking about the message he had left. It was too personal and if Scout could read what he was thinking he didn't want him to know. The fusion put his head on his upper hands while his lower hands' fingers fidgeted nervously on his knees. He forced himself to concentrated on how to unfuse. He imagined two bodies separating and focused on that singular thought. It had to work. It had to.

The other mercenaries and Pauling watched as the fused men sat there with a pained expression. His leg began bouncing from frustration and impatience, while his fingers curled as if he were to claw at his face and knees at any moment.

“Sn-Sniper. Scout, please don't hurt yourselves--” She winced and covered her eyes as a flash of pure white filled the room. The two men separated and the batter fell off the sofa face first while the rifleman's stomach slammed into the couch's arm, knocking the wind out of him.

The two were dazed for a minute.

“Sniper. You have a personal phone call on line 3,” the voice repeated, waking the man back up and lifting himself off the sofa.

When he set his weight on his feet he stumbled and gripped the arm until his head finally cleared.

He vaguely saw a hand reaching towards him and he batted it away, “I'm fine!”

Pushing himself until he was out of the room, he made a dash towards the phone line. Meanwhile Scout was still sprawled out on the floor with a bleeding nose. He felt an indistinct touch on his person and being pulled up to sit up. Something rubbed against his nose and voices almost physically pressing at his ears.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scout trudged through the damp terrain towards the camper van. He was unsure which caused his steps to be hesitant and leisurely. It was normal that the batter occasionally visited the Aussie, they were friends after all but this visit felt awkward. He wanted to fuse... he didn't think fusing would ever become good but fusing with his friend felt so nice and comforting. He thought about it a little too often until he couldn't take it. After that phone call with his parents he wasn't sure if his friend wanted to now. What happened when they were trying to unfuse... was scary. Sniper must have left a message, waiting anxiously for a response... Seeing him and his thoughts whirl around like that made the Bostonian fearful and confused. What on earth could he have said? After he left, movie night was canceled and Scout's consciousness came back; he had to stuff his nose with tissues. He stayed in his room until the bleeding stopped.

When the Bostonian reached the van he noticed a light on the other side as well as heard jazz music. Good.. he's awake.

He peered over the corner of the automobile and saw the Aussie, sitting on that old rickety sofa set against the side of the van, clothed in a dark tank top and slacks. Slouching over the fire, he at times would poke at the limber with a stick. The batter watched him for a while before making himself known. He stared at his face.. cold, emotionless. His chest taking in deep steady breathes. If Sniper wasn't partaking with the stereo he must be upset. Really upset. He didn't even have his saxophone with him. This isn't good.  
Scout exhaled and stepped into the fire's light, immediately catching the rifleman's attention. Sniper nearly jumped onto his feet but halted when he recognized the figure, he sighed in relief, settling back down on the sofa, “Oh, it's only you,” he gestures his head to the space beside him for his teammate to sit.

Concerned, the Bostonian complied and sat down, “You alright there, Snipes?”

“I will be.”

He did not like that response. “You wanna talk about it?”

The Aussie shook his head sternly.

Their silence had become awkward for Scout, normally he would be okay with this, in fact this happened more than once. He would always have a story to tell his partner to get him to laugh or smile. This was only awkward for he came here for such a selfish reason; he felt guilty for wanting to bring it up. The younger man pondered for a while on what to say.

“Uh, hey, I got somethin' for you.” Once he had the Aussie's eyes on him, he continued, “Lil' known fact about me, now, this may come as a shock to you, Snipes, but when I was a lil' kid, I didn't want to be a baseball player.”

His brows knitted in response, “Really?”

“Yeah, I mean, sure I was interested in it had cards and all, but I actually wanted to be a football player for the New England Patriots.”

m “...You're kidding?”

“Not a bit, ey hold on,” he searched through his short's pockets until he found his wallet, “my ma forced me to keep this amongst other things.”

He opened up the brown worn out leather and an abundance of Polaroid photos fell out, “Uh, hold on, most of these are embarra-- OI,” Scout slapped the other's hand before he could touch a certain photo, “especially this one. Nevah touch this one. Don't even look at i-- Ah ah!”

Sniper let himself smile a bit, watching his teammate scramble and muttered as he looked through the pictures. Until he finally found the right one and held up, angling towards the fire so it could be seen easier, “See? I'm that lil' kid there,” he pointed at the figure near the edge of the frame.

The rifleman squinted at the picture; he could barely make out the surroundings due to the poor light. He then concentrated on the person Scout pointed out. The little boy was running backwards and catching a ball, his helmet far too big for his head but his grin could easily be seen.

His smile shone, “Daw, aren't ya cute. Couldn't find a smaller helmet?”

“Heh, yea, that was my brother's. Sorry it ain't good my ma is crap when it comes to takin pictures-- wha? What?”

For a second Scout thought Sniper was crying, his shoulders were shaking and a hand covered his face, instead of crying he was laughing, “Sor-sorry, I-I really can't imagine your scrawny self now playing with such huge guys! God, you would die out there the second the buzzer sounded!”

Scout's face brightened in a red hue although, “Oi, shut up!”

He spoke after recovering from his giggling, “When I was a kiddiwink, I never did know wot I wanted to grow up to be. I think most of my peers were going towards the usual jobs of doctors, astronauts, CEOs, be part of the army, that sort... My memory is a little off but I believe I wanted to help people.”

“So... like a uh, therapist?”

“Maybe,” he replied with a shrug.

“Hm..Maybe that's why you were chosen to be in the supportive classes."

It took him a moment to understand the pun. He chuckled, “Good one... Thanks, mate.”

“For cheerin' you up? Of course, pal, what're friends for? No need ta thank me for that.” Scout grinned. This time the Bostonian enjoyed the silence with his friend. It gave him time to think of how to phrase his next question.

“Uhm...”

This tiny sound brought the attention of the rifleman.

Shit.

"Ey, uh... how did that feel for you? Uh the- wha... when we fused.”

“Oh... it felt... surprisingly nice, actually.”

His mind wandered back to their fusion how they said they felt good. Scout bit his lip and carefully phrased his next sentence, “I thought so too. So, um.. it would it at all be possible to...”

“Try it again?” The older man finished, gazing right at him.

The batter did his best not to fidget, “Y-yea! I mean, it could help us understand it better? Or even, you know figure out how to unfuse without nearly killin' ourselves.”

The Aussie hummed in response. Eventually he shrugged, “Olright.”

“Nice- right- uh... 'ow.. 'ow do ya think we should.. do it?”

“Well, I don't want you to bust my balls this time so how about not fling yourself onto me?”

He merely nodded, deciding best not to respond vocally.

“From what I understand about this.. fusing, is that we have to--get close.”

“Yea, little much f--” His voice ceased to work as he felt hands around his waist, pulling him into the older man's chest. The Bostonian's body froze. Sniper... did Sniper just bring him into a really close embrace...? He pretty sure his heart beat could be heard within five miles.

“... Nothin' happenin',” The rifleman spoke with disappointment dripping from his tone. He let go of his teammate to stand up. He could always think better pacing.

Scout gulped hard and took a few tries to find his voice, “D-dude, fuckin' warn me next time. I thought you were gonna kiss me for a sec.”

“Sorry,” he replied halfheartedly, lost in his thoughts. The batter watched him pace near the fire. The flames bringing out the muscular detail in his arms. Looking at him now, he looked great in that tank top... He cleared his throat, directing his attention back to fusion. Finally a light bulb flicked on within his mind.

“Uh, Snipes, I got an idea,” He pushed himself off the sofa, “why don't we try dancin'?”

“Dancing?” His feet stopped and turned to his teammate. He seemed a little weary of that idea, “It's worth a try but... to be honest I'm not sure how to.”

“Aw, c'mon, man, it's pretty easy! You just gotta go with the flow.”

“Flow?”

“Yea! It'd like.. it'll be like, uh... playin' the sax!”

Sniper smirked at his flawed metaphor, “'Ow exactly?”

“Uhhh... like... I-I've seen you play, you can get into it you know?” Noticing the Aussie's perplexed face, he continued, slowly losing faith in himself to convey, “y-you know...ummm,” He chewed his bottom lip. Maybe a visual approach would help? Seeing that the instrument was no where in sight he improvised by having an air saxophone. Recalling how Sniper holds his instrument, he guessed where to place his hands and mimicking the sounds with his mouth. The Aussie was able to suppress his laughter from that unexpected display for only a few seconds which caused the batter to halt as his face's color flushed similar to a tomato. He hated these situations. It made him feel awful and vulnerable. The urge to run was desperate yet his legs stayed glued to where they stood. Eventually Sniper's laughing fit slowed to breathless giggles.

“I-I'm sorry..! That was so cute...!” He wheezed out.

“Fuck off,” he barked, avoiding to look at his person.

“Ah, Scout, don't be like that!” The rifleman knew well how to distract him especially when he's in one of his moods. Questions. “You know, if we're going to fuse don't we have to dance... together?”

The anger washed away and replaced by alarm.

He repressed his chortles this time “... You didn't think of that huh?”

He did not speak for a while, turning his head to face him, “no.. I mean, I was totally gonna show you how to break dance.”

“No thank you, I'll 'preciated it if you didn't. I rather not have a broken neck.”

The younger man rolled his eyes, “You're such a killjoy sometimes.”

“I guess that's one the perks of being a sniper, huh?”

Scout stared at his friend and couldn't help to smile, “... was that a fuckin pun?”

He shrugged, “Eh.. Tried to be anyway.”

“You're such a dork,” he playfully punched his shoulder, “Now, uh, I actually have no idea how to um, dance with anotha person. I mean, it can't be that hard right?”

The Aussie rubbed the back of his neck subconsciously, unable to give input.

“Le.. let... mm...” Of course he had seen duet dances in movies and in person. He had seen and joined his teammates dancing in victory over the BLU... but this was entirely different. Dancing to fuse within each other to create a person. It was too unfamiliar and awkward for them. Standing there facing each other wasn't going to speed up the process either.

“G-give me your hands,” Scout commanded above a whisper.

“Wot?”

Under his nervousness he shouted, unable to look at his face, “Let's stop wastin' time! Give me ya damn hands.”

The other man flinched but complied. Now they were holding each other's hands... Scout glanced over at the stereo, the drums and symbols catching his attention. Could they even dance to jazz funk music?

“Now, ju..just follow my lead alright? Stare at my feet if you 'ave to.”

They looked like preschoolers rehearsing for a recital. Their feet clumsily moving side to side, trying to circle and ending up tripping over each other. Finally Scout grew frustrated enough to let go of his teammate's hands, “This ain't getting anywhere?! Even when we're bumpin' against each other we still aren't fusing!”

"Wait, hold on, I want t' try something.”

“Yeah and what's that?”

“Give it a second.”

Waiting impatient the Bostonian tapped his foot while his irritation boiled within him. On the other hand the Aussie took this time to set aside his awkwardness. When he heard the bass plucking, he took the younger man's hands once more which caught him off guard, “follow my lead this time.”

Silently he gulped and kept his eyes on his feet. He did his best to keep up with Sniper's wide strides and focus on the song. It was something to distract him from how close he was to his partner. He could not bring himself to lift his eyes up. Dancing with him was stirring something uncertain in his stomach he could not put his finger on.

“Mate, you're squeezing my hands numb.”

Wincing the batter eased up the pressure and refused to speak. Even though the rifleman was very inexperience with this type of movement with another body; he concentrated on keeping his legs steady. Although he did stumble quite a bit on the uneven terrain. He turned his attention briefly towards Scout and immediately recognized his vulnerability. It must be killing his partner not to pull away from him and recover from his uneasiness. This worried him. He tried to talk to him about this before but the batter always played stubborn and pretend he was fine. If he did it now the outcome wouldn't be any different, so they continued dancing in silence.

Upon taking another step back the damp slick ground caused Sniper to lose his balance. Acting quickly Scout grabbed him by the waist while the recipient's arms found his shoulders to hold on to, stopping his fall. They stared with wide eyes at one another, taking in shallow breathes. The batter's arms were shaking from his weight as well as an unfamiliar emotion.

The Aussie's lips broke into a smile in attempt to comfort, “nice catch. Glad your reflex came in handy.”

The batter studied what he was doing in that moment. They were just dancing only inches from each other. Now he had his friend under him in his arms. This whole experience was awkward yet they weren't able to fuse... but he was smiling... They were giggling.

Abruptly a light emanated from the two bodies.

He blinked. Quickly he looked down... he... they... it worked. They fused. The fusion grinned broadly, unable to contain the excitement. He hugged himself with his four arms.

“W-we-we did it! Holy shit!!” the laughter was long, joyful and filled the air. Due to Scout's agility, the fusion cartwheeled around the campsite then proceeded to jump onto the camper van. He sat there and surveyed the land around him, deeply inhaling the crisp air in this new form. He felt good.. no more than good. Fantastic.

A thought popped into their fused mind, “What do you think we look like? Do we have a mirror?”

Carefully he slid off the hood of the automobile. When he stood in front of the van's door he noted how tall he was compared to normal, in fact, he was only inches shorter than the camper van itself... and unable to fit through the now small door.

“Guess that won't work... wait.”

He sidestepped and knelt down to look at his reflection in the window. Staring for a while, moving his head a bit to see all the corners of his face, he felt his scruffy chin, his messy hair, his thick neck... he looked at his tank top, his chest... His lopsided smile returned, satisfied, “Damn, we look good.”

He gave a deep throat chuckle as he settled down on the couch. His eyes closed to take in this experience. The fusion sat there for minutes upon minutes, relaxing. Listening to the fire crackling and the occasional crickets chirping, he felt absolutely free and at peace.

“FUCK” The fusion's opened wide in panic and he jumped up from the sofa as Scout's voice emerged from his mouth.

“Whoa whoa, calm down, what happened?” Sniper's voice came to ease his other half down.

“I-I forgot about Medic, aaaah, shit, he better not looking for me. I-I have new meds to take.”

“Should we split then?”

Slowly the fusion's breathing slowed as the two lower arms wrapped around his body, “We... we should but.. I really don't want to. This feels so good... ”

The upper arms mimicked the action, and at times rubbing his thumbs affectionately over his lower hands, “... and I agree with ya, mate, but we don't got any clues on if this is a good thing to do or not...it's best that we try to separate.”

His top eyes felt moist. For Scout what was bad about fusing was that Sniper knows what he thought and vise verse. He felt good. The type of good you feel when he succeeded on the first try, the feel when you ace a test you knew you'd fail, the feel when you... kiss someone for the first time. He didn't want it to end. The feeling was addicting. He felt vulnerable and exhausted. He hated that feeling and needed to eliminate it but he couldn't this time. This is when his other voice spoke up.

“Scout. I know you're happy that this worked. I am too. I know its nice to feel like you've done something right. Don't panic just because I can see your insecurities right now. You get made fun of a lot, I know, but... don't just push those feelings away. It doesn't make you weak. If anything, vulnerability makes you stronger. Trust me. I know from experience.”

Silence fell over the fusion once again. The rifleman could see his partner's thoughts dashing and chasing each other frantically. Too many emotions wanted to take over him until the upper eyes released tears.

They stayed fused as Scout's eyes cried. The fusion sat down on the ground and wept. The fused merc brought his legs into his chest and embraced them with his four arms. He hadn't cried like this in years. He took his time, letting his emotions spill out like an overflowing bath. It took what felt like an hour for him to stop leaking. The feeling was satisfying... comforting even.

He wiped his nose with his shirt and clumsily stood back up, “Ok... I'm better now.”

“Good. Let's try to unfuse.”

The fused mercs nodded and closed his eyes. Concentrating on their bodies, he slowed and deepened his breathing. It was a slow process but light gently engulfed over the fusion and two bodies disconnected from one another. Their poses when the unfusing was finished was the same when they did fuse. Scout was holding him up by the waist while Sniper had him by the shoulders. Leisurely they opened their eyes, gazing at each other. Neither refused to move from their positions or pull up.

The Aussie let out a huff, his breath tingling the batter's nose, and gave his teammate a weak smile, “We did it.”

“Yeah.. thanks, Snipes.”

Before he could reply something moved out of the corner of his peripheral. Something human shaped. He craned his head to the right and there stood Medic, only a yard away, staring at the sight ahead of him. His expression was difficult to make out but that did not change his reaction, “oh fuck.”

Troubled Scout followed his gaze immediately. At the sight of the doctor, he made the mistake from his reflexes to release his partner and let him fall onto the ground.

The three mercs were stunned to quiet stillness. The only movement was their chests inflating and deflating.

“Vere.. you two dancing?” Medic's voice finally found itself.

That's his first question?

“... Yes. Were,” The Aussie picked himself back up, brushing the dirt off his clothes.

The batter couldn't keep in anymore, “We were tryin' to fuse!”

He could hear his teammate's disappointed sigh, “You know, you're terrible at keeping secrets.”

“Fuse? By dancing?” the doctor hummed, “... that's not a bad idea.”

“Yea, it-it worked too. We just unfused.”

“Successfully?”

“Yeah.”

“... Could you demonstrate--?”

A groan emanated from his throat, throwing his hands up in exasperation, “Goddammit it was awkward enough dancing, I don't wanna do it in front of people! Especially him!”

Sniper rolled his eyes and grabbed him by the arm, “Don't be such a baby, c'mon”

“I vasn't finished speaking...” The two paused in their action and stared back at their teammate, who walked forward, “Coud you demonstrate vith me, Herr Sniper?”

Neither of the two men answered; their countenance expression confusion.

“Did I not make myself clear? Fuse with me, Sniper.”

“Wot?”

“And not me?” Scout's mouth was ahead of his brain when he said this and immediately felt the need to slap himself.

Medic's face became stern, “I vill never fuse with you again unless ve vere the last two team members standing.”

He gave a weak thumbs up, “Point taken, gotcha.”

He watched the German pulled his teammate over by the fire while the Aussie protested, “Wai-wait! Do I not get a say in this??”

“Oh come now it vill be short. Beside I'd like to share this experience with you,” He responded coolly with smug and rather evil looking smile, which cause his partner's face to blush with uncertainty as the doctor wasted no time to lead.

Sniper shot a glance over his shoulder at Scout with wide eyes and pressed lips, mentally asking him what the fuck was happening. The recipient responded with an exaggerated shrug and made a circular motion with his index finger at the side of his head while pointing his eyes towards the doctor. Cracking a smile the rifleman gave a quiet chuckle before his partner directed his attention back to their dance.

It was not long until light engulfed their persons and formed a tall fusion, leaving the Bostonian breathless. The fusion's appearance was outstanding...ly muscular. Due to the two partner's clothes, this combined created a striped short sleeved sweater, revealing four strong arms. His toned face and messy slick hair were undeniably attractive. The glasses themselves changed too, now with the same orange tint but circular like the doctor's spectacles. The four eyes blinked slowly and he stretched his back.

“My... I must say I am surprised vith 'ow nice zhis feels,” he examined himself front and back before noticing his teammate's silence. The fusion gazed over to see that he was in fact gaping at him.

“So, mate, vhat do ya think?” he asked, stepping over to him.

Scout swallowed loudly and the only things could come out of his mouth were sounds and stutters of possible words. Clearing his throat he tried again but to no avail.

With a grin creeping onto the fusion's face, he bent down a bit and placed a hand on his neck. His thumb on his chin, which closed his ajar mouth. He then proceeded to move his hand to his jaw, running his thumb across his lips. In response to his cold hand against his skin, a shiver ran down his spine; his eyes nearly glazing over.

“U-uhh—AAHH” Feeling every fiber of his being flair up once he realized what he was letting himself do. He managed to clumsily push himself away from the fusion causing the batter to fall onto the dirt. He breathed in rapid shallow succession from his unwavering shock. Eventually he got to his feet and pointed a rather shaky hand to him, glaring up at the fused mercs, “Nevah, touch me.”

The other rebuked teasingly, “Und vhy not? You seemed to be en--”

“NEVAH. Touch me.” He repeated louder, wiping away the merc's smile, “You two need to unfuse now. It's been long enough.”

Slowly the fusion nodded and closed his eyes. They were able to unfuse within thirty seconds.

Swiftly the rifleman pulled away from the doctor's arms to confront his teammate, “Scout, mate, I'm-I'm sorry.”

He extended a hand towards him which he promptly swatted away, “What made you do that huh?!” Scout's eyes looking back and forth between the two mercenaries, “What.. what was the point?!”

The two refused to speak nor gaze at each other. In that short time span, within just those few minutes, they felt the same feeling towards him. They wanted to tease him in his weak state... but that seemed to be a mistake.

“Just what?!” his gestures were highly excessive now from his overwhelming conflicting emotions, “I'm confused enough as is for most of my life; I don't need your help!!”

“Confu--?”

“J-jus-just fuck it alright! Fuck it! Fuck you! 'M goin to bed...” He spun on his heel and stomped back towards the base.

“Vait! Scout, your med--”

“FUCK OFF”

Anything they could've said landed on deaf ears. He didn't want to talk to anyone, see anyone. He desired to be alone. He felt as if he lost his mind. Once he was inside he instinctively walked to his old room. Suddenly Miss Pauling emerged from his bedroom, causing his heart to skip a beat.

Oh right.. I'm sleeping in Snipes room.... great.

She did not seem to take notice of his presence as she finished folding up her hazard suit and then proceeded checked her clipboard. He took this opportunity to fix his hair and straighten up his clothes. This could at least be a nice distraction. His eyes followed the curves of her figure.

Smirking, he propped himself against the wall and made himself known, “Yoo, Miss P. How you doin?”

She only gave him a short glance at his direction, “Oh, hey, I'm exhausted. Um, I'm sorry Scout, but your room may take some more.. time.”

“Ehh, I've heard, but as long as I get to see ya more often I'm good. I'm very good--” Realizing she was leaving him behind, he quickly caught back up to walk beside her, “Say, uh, since your here, why don't we hang, you know, do a little of this a little of that.”

Her face held a hint of disgust but she reluctantly responded to full his ego, “... And the 'this' and 'that' are?”

“Oh they can mean whatever you want it to mean, baby,” He smiled broadly.

“Rrrrright. I'll take it to mean that I'm done here and I'm going to go home. Goodnight Scout,” and she figuratively demolished him. Her words forced him to stop walking and his smile to waver.

“U-uhh.. ye-yea! You take care, Miss Pauling.” He watched her leave and his confident posture fell apart, “... Huh... that-that did not go how I wanted it to.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scout bolted to and fro through the rain of bullets, taking out his built up frustration on any of the BLUs getting near the bomb. He found an enemy Heavy heading towards his way, ready to end his killstreak. Without hesitation he popped open a can of Bonk! and drank a mouthful. Upon swallowing he already felt the short span of energy course through him. Gripping his Boston Basher firmly, he rushed towards the Heavy while bullets bounced off his skin. When the eight seconds were up he was already behind the big guy and smacked him over the head with his weapon. A sickening crack followed and he collapsed immediately.

His voice once light and full of spunk was cold and almost ruthless, “That's what you get for tryin' to touch me.”

He was ready to be on the move again but then paused when he saw RED Pyro near the edge of the cliff, staring down at the ravine. Puzzled before he walked over to his teammate, he checked the perimeter for Spies but instead shot down a BLU Soldier screaming for a Medic.

“What's up, Mumbles?”

Pyro put a hand on his shoulder and pointed down towards the ravine, “Mmm!”

He was hesitant on obeying, wondering if this was an enemy Spy in disguise that desired to push him off the edge. Finally giving in to the temptation, he followed their finger and saw a giant drill like object planted just below them on their side of the ravine. There was at least five more of them in different areas. One was nearby the RED base. Around these drills were gems of varies sizes.

Scout finally put two and two together, “No... no fuckin' way.”

**Author's Note:**

> this is what Scout and Sniper danced to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i98AJPwNd7I
> 
> more to come at a later later date :)


End file.
